New Ofsted inspections of multi-academy trusts (MATs) should not be graded, the sector body for trusts has said. The government has pledged to introduce during this Parliament. A new report launched by the (CST) today laid out its vision for the inspections. 鈥淎 graded system is unlikely to be valid or reliable and would add pressure without clear benefits,鈥 it argued. It said the inspection outcomes should instead be 鈥渨ritten reports that identify key patterns in school quality within the group, and the effectiveness of the group鈥檚 response to weaknesses.鈥 CST argued this would help ensure accountability of MATs 鈥渨ithout unnecessary burden鈥. It said this approach would avoid 鈥渄istorting behaviour through high-stakes grading鈥. The organisation said the inspections should be carried out by 鈥渁 slim team of specialist HMI, supported by well-trained practitioners鈥 who hold leadership positions within trusts and other groups that run multiple schools, with 鈥渃learly defined processes for managing potential conflicts of interest. The report, which was released as CST holds its annual conference in Birmingham, also warned against 鈥渋nspection for inspection鈥檚 sake鈥, and said government 鈥渕ust demonstrate clearly how this policy will add value to the system and ultimately to children鈥. MATs not only groups running multiple schools CST also argued the inspections should be framed as 鈥済roup inspection鈥 rather than 鈥渢rust inspections鈥, as 鈥渢rusts are not the only type of responsible body operating multiple schools鈥. It argued that MATs 鈥渁lready face robust public accountability through external audit, oversight from regions group, and every time one of their schools is inspected鈥. 鈥淚f group inspection applies only to trusts, government should explain what parallel accountability arrangements exist for other groups鈥. CST described the decision for Ofsted to begin inspecting trusts as 鈥渁 significant policy shift鈥 and said the education secretary 鈥渕ust play a central role鈥 to ensure its 鈥済enuinely strengthens the system rather than only adding burden鈥. Currently, Ofsted provides summary evaluation of trusts (MATSEs), which sees it batch-inspect a number of schools within a trust, but it does not inspect the way their central teams work. Ofsted has recently advertised for a policy lead to help shape the new inspections, signalling work to develop them is soon to begin. But the DfE must formally consult on the policy and legislate before MAT inspections can be implemented, and no specific timeframe has yet been given. DfE and Ofsted said they would be working with the sector as government formulates its approach.